Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

ZAGREB (Reuters) - The Croatian parliament backed a border arbitration agreement with Slovenia on Monday, helping Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's efforts to lift a major obstacle to Croatia's European Union bid. EU member Slovenia blocked Croatia's EU talks last December because of unresolved borders. In September, it lifted a veto and allowed Zagreb to resume membership talks after the two prime ministers agreed to resort to international arbitration. Croatia hopes to wrap up the EU talks next year, but Slovenia has indicated it is ready to veto Croatia's progress again unless the arbitration agreement is signed soon. The two prime ministers are expected to ... Read Full Story

ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatia and Serbia have indicted eight men in two separate investigations for last year's killing of an influential Croatian newspaper publisher in Zagreb, state prosecutors said Monday. Croatian prosecutors have charged six men accused of killing Ivo Pukanic, owner of Nacional political weekly which often investigated organized crime, prosecutors said on their website. Pukanic was assassinated in October last year by a car bomb that also killed one of his colleagues in a parking lot outside his office in downtown Zagreb. Serbian prosecutors have indicted Sreten Jocic, a wealthy Belgrade businessman already indicted for two other murders, and two of his ... Read Full Story

Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo Sanader resigned and quit politics on Wednesday, only hinting at frustration with his country's delayed EU membership bid as a reason for the shock announcement. "I have decided to withdraw from active politics and will not run as a candidate for Croatian president" in elections due this year, Sanader told a hastily arranged media conference. "Thank God I am not ill... and I admit that I did not accept offers for engagement in European Union institutions," he said without elaborating on the move to journalists. He said his party was to propose Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor as his immediate ... Read Full Story

Dane In a Fur Cap By Nikola Kovacevic The Bull By Nikola Kovacevic Flood by Ivan Generalic Self Portrait by Ivan Generalic ******************************************************************** Years ago when I visited Zagreb, capitol of Croatia, I became acquainted with Croatian Naive art, which became famous in the 1930's as a local variant of folk painting. It frequently showed pastoral scenes, although the influence of the modern age can be seen in some paintings of this genre. The most famous Croatian naive painter is Ivan Generalic. I was curious to know whether or not Croatia's neighbour, Serbia also had naive art that was comparable such art from Croatia. ... Read Full Story

Jadranka Kosor became Croatia's first woman prime minister on Monday vowing to revive the country's bid to join the European Union and tackle the economic crisis. The journalist-turned-politician and her centre-right cabinet were approved by 83 deputies in a late night vote in the 153-member parliament. Forty-five voted against, no one abstained while the remaining were not present. Kosor is succeeding Ivo Sanader who, after holding Croatia's most powerful political position for the past six years, shocked the nation by resigning last week, pushing the country into political turmoil. The 56-year-old Kosor is taking up the mantle amid deep economic woes that have the ... Read Full Story